I haven't been on the site too long, but I've learned a lot in the short time that I've been visiting it. I figured it's time to share our story and continue to learn.
Profile:
I'm 34, and my wife is 35, and we have a 2-year-old. We both live in the GTA and work full time. Our combined gross base salary is $140k. Bonuses may vary, so let's say a minimum of $10k, but the average the last 2 years was $25k.
Assets
Bank Accounts:
Chequing - $7k (I typically don't keep this much in here and always move it to savings)
Savings - $18k
My TFSA Savings - $10k
Her TFSA Savings - $10k
Real Estate:
Home - $390k purchase price (FWIW, builder selling for $570k nowadays)
Mutual Fund Investments:
My RRSP - $96k
Her RRSP - $51k
Son's RESP - $7k (maxing out govt contributions)
Stock Portfolios (using today's prices):
My Margin - BNS, MFC, BCE, PD, PWF, RCI, RY, SU, TRP - $26,656
My TFSA - CWT-UN - $2,052
Son's In Trust - XIC, XSP, XIN, XBB, CDZ, BMO - $8,481
Wife's RRSP - PG, MCD - $4,719
Mine/Wife's ESOP - $22k (I unloaded $16k of this last week. My wife and I work for the same company, so I feel uneasy having our jobs and a big chunk of $ tied to the same company)
Most of the stocks are equally weighted within the portfolio. The stock portfolios have been somewhat a mishmash as I've been learning on the fly. I've tried to focus on dividend-paying stocks for the most part.
Liabilities
Mortgage - $150k
Total assets - $638k (I included our house at purchase price and didn't include stuff such as cars or material possessions)
Total liabilities - $150k
Rough current expenses:
Mortgage - $2200 (Put in ~$600 extra per month)
Property tax - $420
Utilities (incl TV, phone, internet) - $420
Household (incl food, entertainment, toys, clothes, etc) - $400 (We don't buy much groceries cause we eat at our parents' houses since they look after our son after school)
School/daycare - $600
Car insurance/gas - $520
Home/Life Insurance - $345
Total - $4905
That should more or less sum it up.
Short/Medium Term Actions:
- Have another kid within next year.
- Start a spousal RRSP to try and equalize portfolio sizes.
- Pay off mortgage within 5-6 years.
- Might move to another house, which would likely be $150k more than current house.
Questions for you wizards:
- How can I optimize my stock portfolio? That is, with the income difference between my wife and I, should I transfer all stocks into her name?
- Our son gets a lot of money from our extended family for Xmas and birthdays. He's currently got another $3k that I need to invest. I'm not sure what to do with it right now. I'm debating between just buying a few dividend stocks or just putting it more into the semi-couch potato that I've got going for him.
- Any other recommendations on what to do?
Profile:
I'm 34, and my wife is 35, and we have a 2-year-old. We both live in the GTA and work full time. Our combined gross base salary is $140k. Bonuses may vary, so let's say a minimum of $10k, but the average the last 2 years was $25k.
Assets
Bank Accounts:
Chequing - $7k (I typically don't keep this much in here and always move it to savings)
Savings - $18k
My TFSA Savings - $10k
Her TFSA Savings - $10k
Real Estate:
Home - $390k purchase price (FWIW, builder selling for $570k nowadays)
Mutual Fund Investments:
My RRSP - $96k
Her RRSP - $51k
Son's RESP - $7k (maxing out govt contributions)
Stock Portfolios (using today's prices):
My Margin - BNS, MFC, BCE, PD, PWF, RCI, RY, SU, TRP - $26,656
My TFSA - CWT-UN - $2,052
Son's In Trust - XIC, XSP, XIN, XBB, CDZ, BMO - $8,481
Wife's RRSP - PG, MCD - $4,719
Mine/Wife's ESOP - $22k (I unloaded $16k of this last week. My wife and I work for the same company, so I feel uneasy having our jobs and a big chunk of $ tied to the same company)
Most of the stocks are equally weighted within the portfolio. The stock portfolios have been somewhat a mishmash as I've been learning on the fly. I've tried to focus on dividend-paying stocks for the most part.
Liabilities
Mortgage - $150k
Total assets - $638k (I included our house at purchase price and didn't include stuff such as cars or material possessions)
Total liabilities - $150k
Rough current expenses:
Mortgage - $2200 (Put in ~$600 extra per month)
Property tax - $420
Utilities (incl TV, phone, internet) - $420
Household (incl food, entertainment, toys, clothes, etc) - $400 (We don't buy much groceries cause we eat at our parents' houses since they look after our son after school)
School/daycare - $600
Car insurance/gas - $520
Home/Life Insurance - $345
Total - $4905
That should more or less sum it up.
Short/Medium Term Actions:
- Have another kid within next year.
- Start a spousal RRSP to try and equalize portfolio sizes.
- Pay off mortgage within 5-6 years.
- Might move to another house, which would likely be $150k more than current house.
Questions for you wizards:
- How can I optimize my stock portfolio? That is, with the income difference between my wife and I, should I transfer all stocks into her name?
- Our son gets a lot of money from our extended family for Xmas and birthdays. He's currently got another $3k that I need to invest. I'm not sure what to do with it right now. I'm debating between just buying a few dividend stocks or just putting it more into the semi-couch potato that I've got going for him.
- Any other recommendations on what to do?